African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced nine winners of its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Create-thon, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered competition that challenged African creators to develop games, videos and music inspired by African culture.

In a statement on Thursday, Afreximbank said the competition attracted about 6,000 creators from 43 countries, who submitted 792 games, music tracks and videos.

The competition was organised under Afreximbank’s CANEX programme, in partnership with Gebeya and the Afreximbank Innovation Lab, with participants using Gebeya’s Dala Studio platform. 

The winners emerged across three categories, with Feven Birhanu, Racheal Ifeoma Ogugua and Ndaya Victoria Mulidiki clinching first place in gaming, video and music, respectively.

Micheal Nomyongo and Angulu Otoroza came second and third in gaming, while Hassan Ahmed and Temilorun Okediji secured the second and third positions in video.

In the music category, David AMA came second, while Nadia Ibrahim took third place.

The competition offered $50,000 in prize money, with winners in each category receiving $7,000 for first place, $3,500 for second place and $1,500 for third place. Additional prizes were also allocated to qualifying creators from the top 20 African countries. 

Speaking at the event held on Friday in Lagos, Afreximbank’s Director of Creatives and Diaspora, Temwa Gondwe, said Africa must ensure that its growing creative influence translates into economic benefits and ownership.

“The question is not whether Africa will participate. The question is how much value Africa will create and own and retain,” Mr Gondwe said.

He stressed the need for affordable computing resources, accessible creative tools, effective distribution channels and stronger protection of intellectual property to help African creators build sustainable businesses.

Also speaking, Gebeya’s Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Amadou Daffe, urged young Africans to move beyond experimenting with AI and use the technology to develop income-generating products and services.

“Knowledge is in the pocket. The question is, what do you do with it?” Mr Daffe said.

Afreximbank’s Director of Digital Business and Innovation, Emeka Onyia, said the event also marked the official launch of the Afreximbank Innovation Lab designed to support the development of technologies and ideas that promote African trade.